The past three days have been filled with construction work under the hot Peruvian sun.  A truck brought a tank of water to firm up the sand for about $20. 

We shoveled the heavy sand into rice bags and dragged the bags to surround the level spot.  The foundation of the church consists of hard packed sand and sand-filled rice bags.  It’s kind of ironic that the church will be built on a sandy spot rather than on a firm foundation.  In a city where it rains less than 2 inches per year it works.  We shoveled more sand and then shoveled some more. 

Finally we were able to nail together particle board and flimsy boards for the walls. 

More sand was shoveled to create holes for the supports for the walls, which were then filled with cement.   At the end of day three all four walls were up and we were covered in sand from head to toe.  Even after a shower I continued to find sand in my hair or behind my ears.